Now Playing: "Darkest Place", Woman's Hour

In true English fashion, when September hits it brings with it heavy coats and thick, plush scarves and gloves. So naturally, I’ve had to accommodate by adjusting my main playlists from the likes of HAIM, Selah Sue and TV Girl (and secretly a little Mungo Jerry!) to the Replacements, the Del Fuegos and Baths.  I mean, normal people do this with each season change – right?!

My favorite wintery playlists generally feature a good, eclectic mix of electronic beats and acoustic guitar.  And a lot of Amy Winehouse!  Think something along the lines of “Miasma Sky” by Baths, then “After the Storm” by Mumford and Sons, followed by “Moody’s Mood for Love” by Amy Winehouse.  A good combination of dark, moody and melancholy - with little else in common!

The most recent addition to this borderline ridiculous mix is “Darkest Place” by Woman’s Hour.  It’s slow, eerie, ridden with emotions and has some absolutely stunning vocals.  If there’s any song that’s going to get me excited for winter, this is the one.  The song will be officially released on the 21^st of October (along with this pretty disturbing cover), but for now you can check out their soundcloud here, and the song “Darkest Place” Below! 

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Now Playing: "Bruises", The Magic Gang

Usually when I write about a band, I know everything there is to know about them.  Seriously, ask me any question about Gang of Four or She & Him! For The Magic Gang, I know nothing.  They're an unsigned band based in London... and that about sums up my knowledge.  I couldn't even tell you what they look like!  But when they produce a single like "Bruises" at this stage in their career, they're definitely a band you want to keep an eye on.

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Review: The Neighbourhood, I Love You.

The Neighbourhood’s debut album has been blowing up in the young music scene since it’s release in late April (making this review a pretty belated!).  I first heard “Sweater Weather” and was excited to hear the rest of the album.  Before I could, I saw a lot of negative reviews, which surprised me, as even though I’d only heard one song, I liked what I heard.  What I think is really important to note with this band, and why the critic’s ratings have been quite low, is because they’re clearly a teenage band.  Yes, the lyrics are shallow and it doesn’t match up to the classics and even some of the better bands of the moment like Mumford & Sons or The Black Keys.  Yes, they’re trying a little too hard to be edgy, when in reality there’s nothing hugely original about a lot of the songs on this album.  However, they have produced some good songs that I feel are being overlooked.  Before I heard Phoenix’s new album, Bankrupt!, most of the critical reviews that I had read were praising it, but when I heard it I was monumentally disappointed! Clearly, it’s a matter of personal taste.

The album begins with a slightly gothic, synthesizer-based intro, entitled “How”.  After this, “Afraid” demonstrates why their lyrics have been so heavily criticized;  “You’re too mean, I don’t like you, fuck you anyway”.  Okay, not the most creative or intellectual way to get your point across!  Luckily, the album improves after this.  “Female Robbery”, “Sweater Weather”, “Flawless” and “W.D.Y.W.F.M.?” are the highlights off the album and I would recommend downloading these four rather than the entire album.

I have a French friend in Paris who didn’t start learning English until she was 13.  She said there were a lot of English songs that she really liked before she learned English and didn’t hear them again until after she spoke it fluently.  She then explained how she experienced a bizarre form of déjà vu because when she heard them years later she was then able to understand the lyrics.  For me, I think I would like this album a lot more if I didn’t speak English!   For example, I would have had a very different reaction to the song “Float” if I wasn’t distracted by "They show you how to swim / Then they throw you in the deep end"!  Really?  This was the cleverest metaphor for life that they could come up with?

However, this is their debut album and they’ve gone from nothing to a huge success in a very short time.  They’ve still got room to grow and their success from here seems to be limitless in terms of the fan base that they have already accumulated as well as the direction their music can go in.  I think that after this album they will veer away from the indie/hip-hop genre that they’ve delved in towards the mainstream.  True, the Beastie Boys found a happy medium with the genre, but since them no bands come to mind that have been equally successful with it.  Not that The Neighbourhood sounds like the Beastie Boys, but there’s a slight indie/hip-hop influence.  It’s just enough to be noticeable, but I think their work after this will be much more pop-inclined.

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Introduction to the National + Review: Trouble Will Find Me

Matt Berninger, deep baritone lead singer of The National, epitomizes an awkward-but-cool personality.  He’s tall and gangly, and does not exude confidence by any stretch of the imagination.  This vulnerability is clearly demonstrated in his music and makes him and it easy to relate to.  I think this comes from his late start in the music industry.  He wasn’t a young rock star, surrounded by girls from the age of 18.  Rather, he began with humble beginnings in Cincinnati, Ohio, and became a graphic designer in New York City.  Berninger has explained how this removed a lot of the pressure from the band, as it wasn’t an all-or-nothing situation.  Clearly, this needn’t have been a thought as 10 years on the National are still producing stellar albums.

I hear a lot of people talk about the National being overrated.  I understand this, as they do sound a lot like other indie bands that are around today.  However, what I think makes the National stand out is the relatability aspect.  They aren’t too much of anything.  What I mean by this is that they’re not too cool or too stylish or too hipster or too artistic – they just seem like regular guys who have the same problems in life and relationships as we do.  No matter what you’re going through or what mood you’re in, the National have an album for you.  Their first few albums are simple – calm, relaxing, easy acoustic arrangements.  Slowly they’ve added a larger orchestra and delved deeper into the directions their music can go, without loosing their sound or their roots.

What’s particularly special about their music is tone.  Berninger has stated, “Our songs are about death – but in a really fun way”.  While all of the songs are clearly melancholic, they don’t make you want to sit around waiting for death like the people in the Notebook.  They still retain a pop aspect to them, which makes them catchy and really enjoyable to listen to, despite the depressing undertones.

From a lyrical standpoint, the National falls between brilliant and confusing.  On the one hand, they can be interpreted in a myriad of different ways, making them applicable to a lot of different people and situations.  Regardless of what the artist actually meant when he wrote lyrics (this can often be disappointing, for example finding out that half of Bob Dylan’s lyrics really are just about marijuana), this ambiguity that stems re-interpretation demonstrates the lyrical strength.  On the other hand, and I’m not sure if this is a good of a bad thing, there are a lot of National lyrics that make me do a mental double take: “Can’t face heaven all heavenfaced” (what!?).

The first song on the album, “I Should Live in Salt” appears to be simple enough, discussing the deterioration of a complicated relationship.  It then brings in the idea of rubbing salt in an open wound.  This evokes the metaphor of Berninger himself being an open wound and condemning himself to a life in salt.  While I interpret the song like this, the beauty of Berninger’s lyrics is the sheer agility and versatility of them in their multitude of personal interpretations.  For example, it could also easily be interpreted as a life of guilt, as “I should live in salt” is followed by “for leaving you behind”.

Overall, Trouble Will Find Me is unsurprisingly a fantastic album and worth listening to!  Any fans of The National will not be disappointed with this installment.

My “must-listens” off Trouble Will Find Me are: “I Should Live in Salt”, “Don’t Swallow the Cap”, “Sea of Love” “This is the Last Time” and  “I Need My Girl”.

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Review: MS MR, Secondhand Rapture

I was halfway through making a playlist for this summer when I remembered that MS MR’s debut album, Secondhand Rapture, had been released on the 14^th.  I quickly found it on iTunes with the intention of listening to a few songs to get an idea of what they had done on their full album after their previous few EPs.  After sampling 3 songs I bought the album and have been listening non-stop all day. I certainly will not need my summer playlist – this album is all I see myself listening to for at least the next month!

When I was younger, I remember being elated when a new Avril Lavigne or Green Day album would be released.  I would convince my dad to drive straight to Best Buy the morning of the release and then he would have the pleasure of listening to that and only that for the next 6 months.  With the sheer amount of music that is so readily available now, I don’t get the feeling of being that excited over a band very often.  Yet, MS MR has given it to me once again, and I think they’re going to have the same effect on a lot of other people.

Recently, all of the new music I’ve heard has been one of two things: synthesizer-laden pop music where the listeners are provided the challenge of differentiating between songs or a guy essentially playing his ipod to a stadium full of people.  Yet, throughout Secondhand Rapture, each song does not blend monotonously into the next.  Each song is different, coherent and addicting!  With the similar name and male-female duo, the obviously instinct is to compare MS MR to She & Him.  Yet, about 30 seconds into the first song, their sound is so unique and strong that the resemblance is immediately forgotten.  Still, lead singer Lizzy Plapinger’s voice reminds me of Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine and MS MR do sound quite like a darker version of F+TM.  

While the dark lyrics and tones of each song are what initially draw you in, the unique addition of echoing and heavy drums makes it impossible not to listen to these songs over and over again.  I love the use of drums on “Salty Sweet” and the openness of the lyrics along with the vivid orchestra of “Hurricane”.  While “Bones” and “Hurricane” are the obvious singles off the album, “Fantasy”, “Ash Tree Lane” and “Head Is Not My Home” are also very strong.

With the option of buying only one or two songs, rather than an entire album (thanks to iTunes), bands have been under more and more pressure in the last 10 or so years.  This means that there is less leeway for filler songs.  Clearly, MS MR has not been fazed by the idea of using filler songs and I believe that Secondhand Rapture is the strongest debut album so far of 2013! 

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